Islam is the religion of peace and the 2nd largest in the world; It is misunderstood by the western world, and the image of Islam has been distorted over the centuries giving rise to many misconceptions that have endured the tests of time in the minds of many non-Muslims specially westerners. Even today Islam is reduced by many to just three ideas: polygamy, fanaticism and fatalism. Few realize that Islam is means more than just “submission to God”. To a westerner Allah signifies the divinity of Muslims, not the God of the Christians and Jews, which in fact is far from the truth, for Allah means God, like the Hebrew word for God YHWH i.e. the pronunciation Yahweh.
- Muslims are Arabs:
Misconception: All Muslims are Arabs
The common image of a Muslim is a turbaned dark Arab man with a long beard. However this image is part of the minority of Muslims. Arabs make only 15% of the world’s Muslim population. As a matter of fact the Middle East comes in third with East Asia coming in at first (69%) and Africa (27%) coming in at second. Another common misconception is that all Arabs are Muslims. While the vast majority of Arabs are Muslims (75%), there are many other religions that Arabs practice including Christianity and Judaism.
· Muslims and Jesus:
Misconception: Muslims Hate Jesus
Many Christians are often surprised to find that there are many similarities in the historical references of Islam and Christianity and that it is a fundamental belief of the Islamic faith to accept Jesus as one of the great prophets of God, One cannot be a Muslim without believing in the virgin birth, and the many miracles of Jesus. The only difference is that Muslims do not believe Jesus to be God.
· Children’s Rights:
Misconception: Children have no rights
Children, according to Islamic law, have various rights. One of these is the right to be properly brought up, raised, and educated. Islam encourages children to be brought up well because it is the responsibility of an adult to raise his child to become a moral and ethical adult. Children must also be treated equally. When giving financial gifts they should all be the same amount and there should be no preference among them. Children are even permitted to take moderately from their parent’s wealth to sustain themselves if the parent declines to give them proper funds for living. A child is also not allowed to get hit in the face or hit by anything larger than a pencil.
· Religious Intolerance:
Misconception: Islam is intolerant towards other religions
“Kill the infidel” is a phrase that comes to the mind of people when thinking of Muslims unfortunately. This however is not a accurate depiction of Islamic Law. Islam has always given respect, freedom to people of other faiths. In the Quran it says “God does not forbid you, with regards to those who fight you not for religion nor drive you away out of your homes; from dealing kindly and justly with them, for God loves those who are just.” There are many historical examples to support this claim, Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) dealt kindly and justly with people from other faith, one of the best examples of tolerance is during 634AD to 644 AD when Caliph Umar ruled Jerusalem, he granted freedom to all religious groups and even set up courts that were designated for Non-Muslims. Another example is from the golden era of Muslim scientist when in modern day Iraq, Muslim scientist worked with Christian and Jewish scholars, history is littered with such examples.
· Jihad:
Misconception: Jihad means to wage a holy war on non-believers
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The true meaning of the word Jihad is to struggle. However in Islam it refers to struggle in the way of God (which essentially means to strive to live a life of good and shun sin). There are many forms of jihad but the most important ones are Jihad al-nafs (jihad against ones self), jihad bil-lisan (jihad by being vocal), jihad bil yad (jihad by using action), and Jihad bis saif (jihad by using the sword). Each jihad is ranked differently and it was reported that Muhammad returned from a battle and said “We have returned from the lesser jihad (going into battle) to the greater jihad (the struggle of the soul).” This means that a Muslim struggling against himself and his soul is more important than the jihad of going into war.
Regarding Jihad another prevalent misconception is that suicide attack for Holy war are a sure ticket to heaven. Truth is suicide in any form is forbidden in Islam, and was greatly frowned upon by the Prophet (P.B.U.H).
· Muslim Savages:
Misconception: Muslims are savages and barbaric during war
Quite the contrary, when it comes to the conduct of war there are ten rules that every Muslim army must obey:
1. Do not commit treachery
2. Do not deviate from the right path
3. Do not mutilate dead bodies
4. Do not kill children
5. Do not kill women
6. Do not kill aged men
7. Do not harm or burn trees
8. Do not destroy buildings
9. Do not destroy an enemy’s flock, unless you use it for your food
10. When you pass people who have devoted their lives to monastic services leave them alone
2. Do not deviate from the right path
3. Do not mutilate dead bodies
4. Do not kill children
5. Do not kill women
6. Do not kill aged men
7. Do not harm or burn trees
8. Do not destroy buildings
9. Do not destroy an enemy’s flock, unless you use it for your food
10. When you pass people who have devoted their lives to monastic services leave them alone
During the crusades when Saladin defeated the franks he honored the defeated Frankish army and supplied them with food and during the third crusade when Saladin’s enemy king Richard fell sick, Saladin sent him a gift of fruits and horses and send his personal physician to attend to the good king’s health.
· Women Rights:
Misconception: Women have no rights
The image of a woman wearing a veil from head to toe, a woman who gets unfair justice or a woman who is not allowed to drive is an all too familiar notion when it comes to women treatment in Islam. And while there are Muslim countries in the world that do implement many harsh rulings against women, this should not be portrayed as Islamic law. Many of these countries have cultural differences that go against the teachings of Islam. It should be noted that during pre-Islam Arabia women were used for fornication only and had no independence. The birth of a daughter in a family was considered humiliating and the practice of female infanticide was uncontrolled. When Islam came to being, verses in the Quran condemned the practice of female infanticide. Islam gave back many human rights to the woman. A Muslim woman is allowed to reject and accept any suitor for marriage and has the right to seek divorce. There is nothing in Islam that forbids a Muslim woman from exiting her house and is allowed to drive. Also in regards to education, a woman is obligated to seek knowledge and it is considered a sin if she refuses.
· By the sword:
Misconception: Islam was spread by the sword
Historian De lacey O’Leary states “History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated.” There is no record in history that shows people being forced by sword point to convert to Islam. When Islam spread through countries they would set up private churches and synagogues for the non Muslims they were governing and because of the good treatment they had received they themselves would convert. If one considers the small number of Muslims who initially spread Islam to the west all the way from Spain and Morocco and into east from India and China one would realize that such a small group of people could not force others to be members of a religion against their will.
· Islamic Terrorism:
Misconception: Muslims are terrorists
The biggest misconception about Islam is that all Muslims are terrorists and this is due to the stereotyping done by the media. Its quite noticeable that when a specific group of people attacks some other group it is labeled as hate crime but if a Muslim does that it is branded as terrorism. Many dictators, fanatics, extremist groups use Islam as a strategy to get followers to meet their own nefarious deeds and most of their practices go against the true teachings of Islam. Islam is portrayed as a cult of sorts, which is a farcry from the truth. More than a billion people practice Islam daily in the world peacefully and in accordance with the true teachings, living their lives as productive and peace-loving citizens of society. Islam is against terrorism, there are numerous verses in the Holy Quran which are against terrorism. Some of these verses include “fight in the way of Allah those that fight you but do not transgress limits for god does not love transgressors.” This basically means do not fight except in self defense and even in doing so do not go beyond defense. Another verse states “if they seek peace, then you seek peace,” which means do not attack people for no reason or kill innocent people. There is nowhere in Islam, whether it be in the Quran or the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H), that promotes the killing of innocent people.
I hope that this removes the common misconceptions about Islam. Please share it with everyone you know, to let the world know, that those who commit these acts of terror are not of Islam, in fact they do not belong to any religion for all religions preach peace at their core.
© 2010 posted by Mustafa Ali Khan Afreedi (DarkMystic)
